I have a terrible sweet tooth. Well, I am sure most of you are aware of it, but just in case. But, I don’t love sugary sweets or milk chocolate train wrecks. Ewww!
My desserts need to be tasty, luscious, and rich. But I’m not talking rich in the butter, deep fryer, let’s add tons of ghee kind-of-way. I mean rich in taste. You know what I mean? Totally.
To make Diwali a bit more fusion this year, I wanted to take the classic gingerbread recipe and make it more flavorful. I always find the recipes call for too little spices. When I make them, I nearly double every spice and add extras.
So with a little bit of this and little bit that and you get Diwali henna cookies! Of course, these cookies are perfect for the holiday season, especially with Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner.
For the gingerbread recipe, I modified the one from The Art of the Cookie by Shelly Kaldunski . This is a *fantastic* book and covers all the basics on cookies. If you want to learn to make the best vanilla sugar cookies on Earth, then you need this book. And for amazing royal icing? Yea, this book is like the Bible of cookies.
Diwali Spiced Cookies
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon clove
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
1 cup (8 oz) butter – room temperature
1 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
1 egg
1. In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and all the spices.
2. With an electric mixer (now is the time to pull out that Kitchen Aid stand mixer), beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Whatever you do, make sure the butter is at room temperate. Not hard, not melted, not semi melt – room temperate: soft to the touch, but does not collapse.
3. Add the molasses and egg and continue to mix on medium low (I use setting 4). Scrap down the edges as needed.
4. Gently fold in the flour into the mix. I add a third of the flour at a time. This allows all the ingredients properly to incorporate nicely.
5. Press the dough into three circular discs. Refrigerate for at least one hour, or until firm to the touch.
6. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC).
7. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
8. Clear out a surface area to roll out the cookies. Lightly dust the area with flour. With your rolling pin (don’t forget to flour that too), roll out the disc to 1/4 in thickness. For the cookie cutters, think of stars and symmetrical cutters. I used an Easter star, the star of David, and a hamsa for my cookies.
I suck… I forgot to take a photo of rolling the gingerbread dough. But, here is a photo rolling out a vanilla sugar cookie dough. It’s the same thickness, just different color.
9. Transfer the cookies to the lined cookie tray, and space about an inch apart.
10. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Set your timer for 7 minutes to check on them though. My oven runs hot so most of my cookies are done several minutes sooner.
11. Once done, transfer the cookies to a sheet or cooling rack and let cool for at least 30 minutes. Get all the other cookies rolled, cut, and baked.
12. Now comes the real fun part of icing them! Check out my royal icing recipe here. Alternatively, you can eat as is, and they are just as delicious.
Decorating tip: For Diwali style cookies, go with symmetrical motifs. Diwali is known for rangoli, sand art, which are essentially mandalas. Though some mandalas have a Ganpathi, aum or peacock center, these little dainty cookies will be better as totally symmetrical. Have fun decorating your henna cookies!
Happy Diwali!!
Yum, I will have to try making these.